Judge: Michelle C. Kim, Case: 21STCV04584, Date: 2023-03-24 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV04584    Hearing Date: March 24, 2023    Dept: 31

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - CENTRAL DISTRICT

Defendant Amy Ziqing Wu propounded special interrogatories, set one, and request for production of documents (“RPDs”), set one, on Plaintiff Marcelino Cortez Estrada (“Plaintiff”) on March 16, 2021.  To date, Plaintiff has not served responses.  Defendants Amy Ziqing Wu and Ping Wu therefore seek an order compelling Plaintiff to respond, without objections, to the outstanding discovery and to pay sanctions.

On October 31, 2022, Plaintiff filed an opposition to each motion providing only that Plaintiff’s counsel lost contact with Plaintiff.  Plaintiff’s counsel states that Plaintiff abandoned the case.  The Court notes that Plaintiff’s counsel has been relieved as counsel of record for Plaintiff, and Plaintiff’s counsel filed notice of such on Plaintiff.  (Notice filed Jan. 31, 2023.) 

Defendants’ motions are granted.  Plaintiff is ordered to serve verified responses to special interrogatories, set one, and RPDs, set one, without objections, within twenty (20) days.  (CCP §§ 2030.290(a), (b), 2031.300(a), (b).)

Sanctions are mandatory.  (CCP §§ 2030.290(c), 2031.300(c).)  Defendant is awarded one hour for preparing each form motion to compel [two hours] and one hour to appear at the hearing- but is awarded this time only once- all at the reasonable rate of $150 per hour, for a total of $450 in attorney fees.  Further, Defendant is awarded two motion filing fees of $60, or $120 total, as costs. 

Sanctions are sought and imposed against Plaintiff, who is in pro per.  Plaintiff is ordered to pay sanctions to Defendants, by and through counsel of record, in the total amount of $570.00, within twenty days.

Defendants are ordered to give notice. 

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE:

• Parties are encouraged to meet and confer after reading this tentative ruling to see if they can reach an agreement.
• If a party intends to submit on this tentative ruling, the party must send an email to the court at sscdept31@lacourt.org with the Subject line “SUBMIT” followed by the case number.  The body of the email must include the hearing date and time, counsel’s contact information, and the identity of the party submitting.  
• Unless all parties submit by email to this tentative ruling, the parties should arrange to appear remotely (encouraged) or in person for oral argument.  You should assume that others may appear at the hearing to argue.  
• If the parties neither submit nor appear at hearing, the Court may take the motion off calendar or adopt the tentative ruling as the order of the Court.  After the Court has issued a tentative ruling, the Court may prohibit the withdrawal of the subject motion without leave. 

Dated this 24^th day of March 2023